Terracotta Warrior
by Dusha
Summary: Cam is unwittingly flung into a future in which he never existed. After recent tiffs with the people closest to him, will his negation from the time line really make that much of a difference? Please read and review.
1. Default Chapter

**Timeframe**: Set before 'The Samurai's Journey' and shortly after Blake and Hunter join the forces of light.

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended, just too many nights of dwelling on exactly how time travel _would_ work.

Terracotta Warrior

By: Dusha

      Carefully parking her van on the side of the deserted, overgrown roadway that was little more then a widened hiking path, Tori stretched lazily in her close-fitting Wind Ninja Academy uniform. After rushing from the surf contest of earlier that day, she had taken the prudent step of calling ahead to assure her Sensei that she would be late, rather then face his wrath. Guided by an inner sense, she took a meandering route to the waterfall entrance of the Academy, sure not to leave any path that would be easily followed by a curious hiker, or worse, one of Lothor's henchmen.

      Within a few yards of the picturesque, yet deceiving, portal the Blue Ranger halted as her honed instincts twittered within her. Instantly, she spun artfully into the cover of the fauna like a graceful wood nymph. Pawing her way toward the culprit with no more sound then a still lake she couldn't muffle her startled intake of breath as her muscles relaxed and her heart rate slowed with recognition of the figure before her.

      Cam stood in the clearing before the waterfall with the determined expression of a terracotta warrior accentuating the calm, fluid movements of the t'ai chi he practiced. Circling the air with his hands as he transitioned from one position to another flawlessly, he seemed to be the embodiment of oneness with his surroundings. All that the Wind Ninja Academy stood for: earth, air, and water, seemed to blend into perfectly balanced whole with the consequent tranquility reflected in the passionate man's eyes. The firm gentleness of his actions mesmerized Tori, and before she thought, called out his name.

      In a flash his hands dropped stiffly to his side and he turned with a look of self-conscious embarrassment to stare directly at her. "Tori, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting with my dad and the rest of the Rangers?"

      "I called ahead; said I would be late. Cam, what are you doing here?" Tori would not let the young man distract her with the fact that she was going to be a little later then she had planned.

      "Well, I do live here, you know," he stated matter-of-factly. Inwardly Cam was furious, not at Tori, but at himself for being caught unaware. 

      Tori was persistent. "But that-that was beautiful. I never knew that you knew t'ai chi." The awe in her voice brought a startled shade of red to the Sensei's son's face despite his attempts at nonchalance. 

      "Everybody needs a hobby."

      Confused by his vain attempts to dissuade her from furthering the conversation because of his obvious discomfort with her unearthing of his secret Tori could only muster a weak, "I guess so."

      Regaining his composure, Cam smirked, dispelling the awkwardness of the conversation with his trademark cynicism. "We'd better get inside, Tori. Knowing Shane, Dustin and the rest of those guys they're probably half way to blowing up Ops by now." 

      Tori rolled her eyes, but didn't contradict the statement, as they disturbed the holographic projection of the waterfall into a blur of color, and Cam could only laugh good-naturedly. 

      As Tori's eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting of the Japanese-inspired room, dark shapes coalesced into the familiar figures of her friends. Cam's exasperated sigh alerted her to the fact that they were crowded around the mainframe computer talking animatedly about something.

      Before her companion could bodily drag the four men away, Tori glided over, tugging forcefully on Shane's training uniform to get his attention. "Um, guys," she advised, "you might want to run."

      "Wha-but why?" Startled by the feminine voice, the Red Ranger tore his face from the screen. When he saw the territorial peevishness in Cam's face he nearly fell off of his perch in his desperate attempt to scramble away, but merely landed gracelessly on the floor instead. Shane's movements rippled through the three remaining Rangers, startling them like minnows. They looked at the green-clad programmer, whose expression would have melted lesser men, guilt etched plainly on their faces.

      "What, pray tell, do you think you're doing on _my_ computer?" Cam demanded. He didn't see what, apparently, was so difficult about his firm instructions to leave his computer alone. Despite his almost constant badgering to stay away, it seemed that the Ninja boys could not keep their grabby little hands away from Cam's belongings.

      Hunter shrugged dismissively, not intimidated by the upstart Asian. "We were bored," he explained. "Since Tori wasn't here yet we had to find something to do."

      "We didn't hurt anything," Blake backed up his brother. Cam cringed, remembering how words spoken along those lines by Shane had preceded a total systems failure once before. 

      "Just-go away. Go…beat each other up, or whatever it is you do for training, okay?"

      "Look, you don't talk to my brother that way," Hunter warned, an all too familiar defensive sparkle in his eyes.

      Ignoring the warning gazes from both his father and the other Rangers, Cam stepped directly in front of the blonde-haired brother, proving that he would not back down either. "There's important information on this computer, more then you could possibly comprehend. I don't trust you all with it because you've given me no reason to." Calming abruptly, Cam shook his head with an air approaching betrayal. "None of you have."

      "Listen you self-centered-"

      "That's enough!" Sensei's words quickly ended the comment, but they did not diffuse the tension and the emotion in the room. Despite his form, the Master knew that both Hunter and Cam were strong willed and ardent fighters willing to sacrifice anything for what they loved. They had both already forfeited their childhoods: one for his brother, and one for his father's cause. Because of this, they took any comment or action against what they loved as a personal affront, rather then the benign observations they usually were. Their devotion to their respective causes was admirable, but often blind.

      "Come on guys," Blake urged, placing a restraining hand on his older brother's shoulder. His smooth face was blank; a lack of expression that Hunter recognized as one of fear. Unwilling to lose the precarious, safe, and new life he had found with the Wind Ninja Academy survivors, Blake didn't understand why Hunter seemed to be intent on provoking Cam, and vice versa. He simply wanted it to stop.

      Tori echoed Blake's movement, gently dragging Cam away from the Crimson Ranger. "It's okay, Cam. Your computer's fine."

      "It's not that," he protested, but did not elaborate.

      "Since you are all here," pulling the fractured attentions of the teenagers gathered, Sensei spoke, "and seem to have so much extraneous energy you may begin your training. You are to pair off and practice hand-to-hand combat. There may be times in battle when you have nothing to depend upon for victory but yourself, and a fear that you have become too dependent on your weaponry and take the ninja spirit in each of you for granted."

      "Um, Sensei," feeling awkward about being the first student to speak after Cam and Hunter's squabble, Shane felt it prudent to point out, "but there are an odd number of us."

      Seeming to ignore the question, Sensei continued, "Shane and Hunter will spar, and Dustin and Blake will also be paired. Tori, I want you to work with Cameron."

      The use of his full name was not lost on Cam, and he knew that a lecture on maturity and temperament would coming his way in the not-to-distant future, but he nonetheless backed into his partner in surprise. "Really, Father?"

      "Yes, Son." Cam's father was keen enough to have noticed Tori's naturally empathic nature and the calming influence it exerted on anyone she encountered. Though it hurt him to know that his son's reclusive nature was in part his own fault, he also knew that the only person who would have a chance of being drawn into the young man's confidence would be the accepting surfer. He was not disillusioned however; Cam had not opened up to anyone in thirteen years, ever since his mother had died so long ago. 

      "Go now, and return when you feel you are finished," he concluded cryptically, expertly flipping himself to another location dark in the recesses of the room.

      As the others moved eagerly from Ops, Cam didn't miss the worried expression on Dustin's young face as he looked between Hunter and Cam. Exhaling deeply, the computer prodigy felt his shoulders slump forward, defeated, and could not keep guilt from reentering his heart.

      "I'm sorry," he said, unable to keep it from being spoken, yet not knowing exactly to whom it was addressed.

      "It's okay. They know," Tori consoled, speaking for all of the Rangers. Wonderingly, she asked herself how she managed not to notice how complex of a person Cam was, and how very little she knew about him. "Let's go practice."

      Returning to his well-known façade of indifference, Cam nodded. "All right. I can't guarantee much, but…sure, let's go."

~*~*~*~*~*~*

      Tori found herself chasing after Cam more then fighting him as she attempted to streak through the forest. Every time she attempted to take advantage of her specialized Ninja training she found that it hindered more then helped. For as the scenery flew by, so did any subtle sign of her prey.

      "Come on out and fight, Cam! We're supposed to be practicing!" 

      Smirking from his perch high in a tree, Cam spied down at Tori as she fruitlessly searched for him on the ground. "I know I'm no match for you Tori, so I'm using my talents against yours."

      "I should just leave you out here," Tori grumbled, unable to discern where the faint voice had come from. Memories of unfinished hide-and-seek games with unsuspecting players left alone giggling about the wonderfulness of their hiding spaces floated back to her. "I've got half a mind to return to Ops and lock you out."

      That, apparently, was enough to jolt the young man from his survey. Landing gracefully on the ground despite the high drop, Cam rose his hands defensively. Balancing her weight, the Blue Ranger prepared to attack and it was only when she was within inches of his face while attempting a blow that she saw the fear that her jibe had kindled.

      "You okay?" she asked, but didn't abate in her assault.

      "Yeah," panting under the deluge of rapid-fire Ninja moves, Cam concentrated on evading and defending rather then striking back. "Ops is just all I have."

      Seizing the opportunity, Tori quipped, "Like how Blake is all Hunter has?"

      "That's not true," Cam defended himself. The sudden, desperate strength of his next blocks were enough to move his opponent several feet backward. "He's got you, the Ninja Rangers, and my father. And, though I hesitate to say it, me if necessary."

      "And you don't?"

      Finally admitting defeat, Cam let his hands drop and bowed in Tori's direction. "I don't know," he took the opportunity to wipe the sweat off his forehead and avoid the surfer's intent gaze. "I suppose so."

      The only thing that kept Cam from seeing the hurt expression on Tori's face manifested itself through a blinding flash of plasma-light as a clock-covered alien of Lothor's legion.

      "Why practice when you can fight the real thing?" it sneered as Tori began to circle it warily. Shifting the staff it held from one hand to another, the minion barely glanced in Cam's direction. Within a few seconds of whispering into her morpher, the rest of the team assembled like an infantry front behind the only female in the group.

      "I wonder if all of those watches are synchronized," wondered Dustin, masking his nervousness at fighting with humor. 

      Despite the direness of the situation, Cam found himself rolling his eyes. Effectively blocked from the attacking monster, he decided to exercise the better part of valor and retreat. He would be of more use to the Rangers in Ops.

      "Kelzaks!" summoned Chronocon with an authoritative swing of his staff. Suddenly surrounded at all sides by chittering, clone-like Kelzaks, Cam knew that he would be forced to fight his way out.

      Turning to face the wall of black he heard the Rangers morph behind him. Cam didn't have that luxury, and with vigor began to attempt his fight to freedom. It became increasingly apparent to him that he would need help, but with Hunter attempting to distract Chronocon single handedly and the rest of the Rangers embroiled in their own petty battles, Cam knew that he was on his own.

      An explosion rocked his concentration and the young tactician spun around. He had always had more the heart, rather then the talent, of a doctor, but despite that reality he abandoned his own battle-crazed enemies to tend to the fallen Crimson Ranger.

      "Hunter, are you okay?" Through the open faceplate Cam could see lines of pain settling firmly on the blonde's face.

      "I'm fine," Hunter grunted, struggling to get up. He only increased his struggling against his own physical weakness as the alien concentrated its fire on his now unoccupied brother. "I've got to help Blake."

      Knowing it would be futile to argue, Cam dragged the Ranger unsteadily to his feet. They had turned to face the menace just in time to see Chronocon knock Blake to the ground and point its staff menacingly in the Navy Ranger's direction.

      As blue, swirling energy collected in the clock face on the staff, Chronocon smirked triumphantly. "When I'm done with you, there will be no Thunder Rangers. What never existed in the past will not exist now!"

      "No! Blake!" Hunter's cry came out weakly. Looking into the desperate eyes of Crimson Ranger, Cam let him sink to the ground as he rushed forward. Nothing but a startled gasp followed him as he ran to intercept the presumably deadly beam. Obviously having learned how important Blake was to his brother had disturbed him greatly.

      Held back by her own Kelzaks Tori recognized what Cam was attempting to do a moment to late to stop it. "Cam!"

      Releasing the pent-up energy in one massive blue fireball, Chronocon laughed maniacally. Anticipating the blow, but unable to avoid it, Blake shut his eyes tight against the blinding light. Abruptly the light was gone, and, Blake realized, he was not.

      "No! It can't be! I missed!" complained the monster as Cam intercepted the energy pulse. Enveloped in a wormhole of light and time, the Sensei's son heard none of this. The sounds of his whole life flooded his ears as he disappeared from reality.

      "Bro, you okay?" Hunter scrambled over to his fallen brother.

      "Yeah, but what about Cam?" Blake looked wildly over the terrain. Everything seemed to be getting darker.

      "What's going on?" Shane's voice could hardly be heard as the deafening, enveloping darkness claimed the world. Chronocon roared in rage. It wasn't supposed to be this way. His mission had been to delete one of the troublesome Power Rangers from the time stream, insuring that the team would never form to begin with. Their meddlesome friend, who had stupidly jumped in the way of his beam, had instead been removed from time itself. 

      Vainly the world rearranged itself according to the new past it had acquired. A past without Cameron. The very fabric of reality shattered as lives were rewritten and reassembled. The last thought of the Rangers, before their own pasts were invariably changed, was whether or not Lothor had finally won.

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	2. Chapter 2

      Skidding to a painful stop on the rocky ground, Cam forced himself to breathe deeply in order to dispel the darkness crowding his vision. It was reassuring to know that he was still alive, though he didn't know how or why, and rather then think too deeply about the matter he decided to simply accept his continued existence as fact and move on from there. The most prudent step he could think of to take now would be to escape, which had been his original plan before being sidetracked by Blake's eminent demise and the whirlpool of light that had been his last memory. He had to get back to Ninja Ops as quickly as possible.

      Rising slowly to a sitting position, the young man dusted himself off tidily before his mind relayed to him a startling fact. Cam's surroundings were deathly silent, missing even the white noise of the native inhabitants of the forest that secluded the Wind Ninja Academy from prying eyes. No explosions rocked the ground, no denizens of the woods scurried, squawking, for cover, and no witty retorts from doomed space aliens ricocheted through the trees. There were no familiar voices from the teenagers he had been fighting along side only moments before to reassure him. 

      "What the-" Cam's voice was hushed with revulsion as he took stock of his surroundings. The once vibrant forest, the one that he could remember exploring as a child, lie burnt and blackened around him. Trees rose like ironworks pikes, stripped of their limbs and any semblance of life. The shock of seeing such devastation crowded his heart with anger and determination to bring to justice whoever had perpetrated this heinous act. He had not felt that way since seeing the Academy reduced to ruin before his very eyes.

      "The school!" he exclaimed, shaking his head to clear away the distracting emotions. If there was any place where he could get answers, it would be from his computer hidden safely under the rubble of his previous home. Stumbling in the general direction of the waterfall portal, his mind still reeling at the devastation, Cam could feel a hole beginning to develop in his heart. The scope of the fire, which had consumed everything in sight, had obviously been vicious, and the cynical voice in Cam's head constantly reminded him of the absence of his compatriots.

      So many non-sequiturs in his situation made the young man feel like he had no control. After being hit by a beam of such intensity, Cam knew he should feel some lingering pain, some affect of what had happened. The instantaneous disappearance of all of the Rangers, and the monster they had been fighting, was another quandary. Where had they gone? Or was it he who had been moved? 

      These thoughts distracted his mind to the point that, upon arriving at the portal where his answers lie, he didn't recognize it. Cam stopped, gaping in astonishment at the ruins of what had once been the greatest technological feat achieved on Earth. Suddenly, he began to feel very, very afraid. The holographic waterfall was no more, and the once idyllic pond, now murky with mud and ash, barely supported the remnants of the normally camouflaged bridge that lead to the desolate landscape of the Academy.

      Treading lightly over rickety, rotten bridge, the hole in what seemed to be the very fabric of space itself opened wearily into the familiar rubble of the school. Vaulting over various piles of the abandoned surface structures, Cam searched for the secret escape route he prayed still existed. His only plan of action consisted of finding Ninja Ops and deciding what to do from there. If that place, where he had toiled away so many continuous days and nights for the Rangers' benefit, no longer existed, he would have no idea where to go next. 

      "Thank God," he breathed, tears almost springing to his eyes, as he spotted the faint outline of a door in the lingering dust. The unnerving amount of sediment that had found a home in the cracks of the escape route told testament to how long it had been since someone had used the entryway, but Cam refused to acknowledge the fact to himself. Finally hefting the impeding block from the entrance, Cam stumbled, as if drunk, down the stairs. No light aided him in his decent, and the inky shadows that the darkness held made the nerve center of the Rangers' operations feel like a catacomb.

      Blue emergency lights pulsed faintly, a dying heartbeat, to light the main chamber. The back, right-hand ceiling had caved in, partially destroying his prized computer, and sealing off the back rooms. Black indentations from energy weapons scorched the once soft, blue walls, while shards of the ceiling decorated the dust on the floor like extra icing on a cake. Without moving towards the dominating, blank, and shattered screen, Cam knew that his computer would be useless. Scrolls he had organized painstakingly in one corner were now nowhere to been seen; taken by whoever had been the victor in the battle for Ninja Ops. Cam had a feeling it hadn't been the good guys. He had come down to the ghost town of a home for nothing.

      Sudden inspiration struck as the programmer wondered how this could have happened with the Rangers protecting Blue Bay Harbor. Sliding on the frictionless marble, he scampered to the relatively undamaged left side of the spacious room. Carefully skirting the splintered, centerpiece table, his eyes struggled to focus in the secluded grotto where he knew the morphers had lain hidden for centuries before Lothor's arrival. It was the only explanation he could think of for the current state of the world that he had witnessed.

      Finding the battle-scarred box, Cam realized that his hands were trembling. Intrinsically, he had a sixth sense that told him what he would find in the glass-sculpted holders, and it was that same precognitive sense that kept him from opening the mahogany lid. It was stupid, he chastened himself, to stand there among the ruin and stare at the intricate black patterns that had faded without polishing, without knowing the truth. 

      Cam took a deep breath, and with a determined expression, expertly flipped the catch on the box and opened it. Nestled in their glass protection, unscathed by the wounds of the battle that had obviously occurred in the room, lay the Wind Ninja morphers. 

      "Well, that explains a lot," Cam murmured to himself. The theory that he was in some sort of an alternate universe had slowly been nurtured into a hypothesis with the things that he had seen. With the new realization that in this place, in this time, the Rangers had never existed, Cam shivered as a feeling of dread lodged itself in his stomach. If no one had been around to protect Blue Bay Harbor, and the world, from Lothor, there was a very distinct possibility that the destruction that the dark-haired youth had seen outside was only a taste of what was to come.

      He had to know. He had to find out what had become of Tori, Dustin, Shane, Blake, Hunter…and his father. A flash of yellow caught Cam's attention, and for an instant hope flared up in the young man. It wasn't Dustin, however, simply his backpack. It seemed to be in fair condition, though splotched with dirt and dust. With blatant disregard for the owner, Cam snatched at the only usable object in the ruins and threw the morphers unceremoniously inside. If he ever did find the Rangers he could at least give the Wind Academy students their equipment. 

      That brought up the next question of where to look for the missing teens. Cam had never prided himself in knowing the extent of the Rangers' social lives, except when they had pertinence to their training or ninja powers. Looking to the ceiling for inspiration, Cam closed his eyes to dredge up any memories that would help. For some reason, the past was becoming a hard thing to grasp, like a dream crushed by harsh reality. 

      Storm Chargers. He knew where that was. He knew that all five of the people in question hung out there at one point or another. It would be the perfect place to start from. Whatever had happened to this world, there was nothing he could do about it from the demolished Ops, and nothing that he could do about it alone. It was the Rangers' jobs to save the world, not his. This was the fact that he jogged up the stairs, he convinced himself, with such desperate speed. He didn't have the heaven-sent powers that the students of the Academies did deep within him, and that was why he knew that he couldn't find and fight whatever had committed this atrocity himself. 

      Cam would never admit that he was frightened. He would not confide to anyone that his heart had seemed to cease functioning. The obliteration of everything he had worked so hard for, that he had cherished so much, and which he would have died for, was evident before him. It intimidated him more than any of Lothor's aliens, more then any of Hunter's threats, or any of his father's lectures. He only wished that he knew what had caused this, so he could make things return to the way it was supposed to be.

      Bursting into the muted sunlight, Cam felt his determination returning as he shifted Dustin's backpack awkwardly on his back. He remembered having just finished a now-hypocritical lecture on how the Rangers should stay away from his personal things, or at the very least ask him for permission before crashing one or more of his databases. It all seemed so trivial now, and childish, when compared to the disaster around him.

      "Hey! What are you doing here?" A thunderous voice rolled over to Cam, as loud as if the owner had been standing beside him.

      Rather then reply, Cam squinted to see a figure slowly rising over the horizon. The bulky shape grew larger at an alarming speed, a testament to the faster-than-human speed of its gait. Calling out, and slowly walking to meet whomever it was, Cam asked, "Who are you? How did you get here?"

      "I'm the one that asks the questions around here," replied the deep voice haughtily. Suddenly sensing the malevolence behind the tone, Cam began to back away. The bulky figure was too large to be any human. That left only one option.

      Keeping his eyes fixed on the monster that rapidly converged on his position, Cam knew that his only hope was to escape before he was recognized. "I was just…doing some reconnaissance, that's all," he lied.

      The monster was becoming suspicious, as was indicated by his quickening pace. No one had been near this condemned place since they had beaten the last pocket of resistance there. "Why aren't you monitoring the humans, instead of loitering here?" he demanded.

      "Um…I was relieved of duty early," Cam guessed, more question in his voice then certainty. 

      The alien paused, squinting into the sun behind the wiry shadow. Despite its less then stellar brain capacity, it was becoming more and more obvious that whoever this was, they were not a member of Lothor's legion. Finally passing the threshold of clear viewing, the alien recognized the unmistakable features of a human.

      For one brief second Cam made eye contact with the minion, and saw the comprehension there. Not sparing a second, the programmer spun around and began to flee. 

      "Kelzaks!" The order was instantly heeded, and Cam found himself surrounded at first by the energy of a dozen transports and second by the same amount of gibbering, knife-wielding Kelzaks. 

      Cam succeeded in knocking down three of the mindless drones before a well-placed swipe landed him on his back, defenseless.

      "I didn't think that there were any of you humans free anymore," sneered the unrecognized monster as it shuffled through the ebbing mass of Kelzaks to drag Cam to his feet. Though the young man tried to struggle as his feet were lifted from the ground, he had no more control over his fate then a marionette. 

      "You'd be surprised how resilient we are," Cam spat back, unwilling to be captured without inflicting some verbal abuse. 

      "What did you think you'd find here?" the monster taunted. "Some wisdom from the supposed defenders of your precious Earth? Well, I have news for you. They're gone. Captured. Just like the rest of your pitiful race."

      "We may not be as helpless as you think," countered Cam, though he knew that his defense was weak. Apparently with Lothor's domination of Earth he had become more powerful, and been able to recruit more competent cronies. That would not bode well for any confrontations the Sensei's son might hope for in the future.

      The brute's mouth turned up slightly in a half-smirk. "Since you were so desperate to meet with the Wind Ninjas, perhaps I can accommodate you."

      Before Cam could scathingly demand what the alien meant by that, he felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck, and fell into inescapable unconsciousness.

*~*~*~*~*~*

      Waking up from the enveloping darkness, like a deep sleep, at first confused Cam. Once again his surroundings had changed, and if it weren't for the lingering pain along his spine he could almost be convinced that everything he had experienced had been nothing but a dream. Lying on his back, he could hear indistinct sounds above him that he struggled to understand.

      "Hey, guys, he's waking up." A hushed, male voice tickled his senses, but it was a female face that he saw as he opened his eyes to the painfully bright lights.

      "T-Tori? Is that you?" As unintelligent as the question seemed, it fell out of Cam nonetheless. Being captured wasn't his preferred way to get what he wanted, but as long as it worked….

      A kind, but confused look settled on the blonde's face as she turned, presumably, to Shane, whose voice Cam now realized spoke the first words. Turning back to the Asian, the Blue Wind Ranger wiped the concern from her face before answering him.

      "That's right. And who might you be?"

Notes:

Mandolin-It's nice to know that I'm not the only person that has unfulfilled story ideas. I'm glad I could 'borrow' your idea and expand on it. No plagiarism intended.

Jade Daniels-I have to admit, I liked the cynical, sarcastic, almost bitter Cam of the first few episodes the best. He had so much character, and it was refreshing to have someone working with the Rangers who wasn't enamored with them to the point of hero-worship. Also Hunter, who will be a bigger role player in later chapters, was always a little darker to me. He seemed, out of the Thunder Rangers, to be the one that was forced to grow up too fast because of circumstances and therefore tried to be more of an adult without truly being a child. Similarity with Cam…I think so.

Cmar-I never thought about the parallels to 'It's a Wonderful Life' but you're correct, it is similar. Too bad it's 6 months opposite Christmas. Also, I like to think that, based on the caliber of reviews I've received, the language is perfect. Sure, it's not for the kiddie crowd, but I've always believed that fanfiction's job is not only to write like the show but also, if applicable, write better. 

Thank you so much for the generous reviews everyone, and I hope to stay on par with my writing. As always, please continue reviewing with questions, comments, snide remarks, etc. They are _always_ appreciated.

Dusha


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